This invention relates to a wet disc brake wherein the friction losses during non-braking time periods are greatly reduced when compared to the prior art.
Wet disc brakes are utilized in many heavy braking applications. In a typical wet disc brake, a rotor, is connected to a wheel, or shaft to be braked. The rotor includes disc portions which are rotating within a viscous fluid filled chamber. A stator surrounds the rotor disc portions. The stator includes discs which are selectively driven into contact with the rotor discs. The friction between the stator discs and the rotor discs slows rotation of the rotating stator. The rotor discs also rotate when braking is not occurring within the viscous fluid. This results in relatively high friction losses during non-braking time periods as the rotor discs rotate within the fluid.
The present invention is directed to a unique method of reducing these friction losses.